


Crossing Over

by GobsmackApplejack



Category: The Walking Dead (Comics), The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, Temporary Character Death, canon violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 14:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7536784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GobsmackApplejack/pseuds/GobsmackApplejack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><span>“Glenn, you almost ready to go? We’re moving out as soon as we can.”</span><br/><br/><span>Glenn looks up from the log he’s been sitting on to see Rick standing in front of him. The former sheriff's deputy is looking pretty bad, but that’s to be expected, considering. He just buried his best friend who pulled a gun on him and who was then shot and killed by his son, Carl. Glenn glances expectantly at the road leading to their campsite just up the hill from the quarry. The road is empty, has been for days. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for. Something in him wants to stay and wait. Wait for whatever it is that will be coming up that road. But there is no security in that. He should stay with the group.</span><br/><br/>He looks at Rick’s tired face again and nods. “I’m ready.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crossing Over

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Shades of L](https://archiveofourown.org/works/597225) by [Psmith73](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psmith73/pseuds/Psmith73). 



> This starts off in the comics universe up to issue #100, then picks up with Season 3 episode 10 of the TV show, after the Governor’s attack on the prison, when Glenn gets Tara to help him look for Maggie.  
> I wrote this a while ago but never felt that it was ready to post. After the recent rumors about where the new season is headed, I just wanted to get this off my hard drive. If an outdated and jossed storyline bothers you, you might want to skip this. Also, I'm going to hand wave any inconsistencies I've made with regard to the comics. But feel free to suggest corrections if you feel they are absolutely necessary.
> 
> Inspired by Shades of L by Psmith73, but nothing like it. It's beautiful so go read it, but prepare for the emotional fallout. You don't need to read it to understand this story.

“Glenn, you almost ready to go? We’re moving out as soon as we can.”

Glenn looks up from the log he’s been sitting on to see Rick standing in front of him. The former sheriff's deputy is looking pretty bad, but that’s to be expected, considering. He just buried his best friend who pulled a gun on him, and who was then shot and killed by his son, Carl. Glenn glances expectantly at the road leading to their campsite just up the hill from the quarry. The road is empty, has been for days. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for. Something in him wants to stay and wait. Wait for whatever it is that will be coming up that road. But there is no security in that. He should stay with the group.

He looks at Rick’s tired face again and nods. “I’m ready.”

***

During their time in Wiltshire Estates Glenn starts to feel like they have a chance. It seems like a place they could make a life. The fact that Carol chooses Tyrese over him doesn’t bother him much. He should be bothered he guesses, since she could be his last chance of having sex ever again. He could die tomorrow. Then again maybe, he thinks, something better will come along.

Glenn feels optimistic until Lori mentions that their supplies are running low. When the next supply run is a bust and Rick says they will try hunting, an image flashes in Glenn’s mind. A brace of squirrels. A deer with several bolts in its flank being eaten by a roamer.

“Maybe we should find a bow and…” his voice falters. “A crossbow” he says more confidently.

Being on the farm ratchets up Glenn’s anxiety again, but he pushes it down for the most part. Meeting Maggie definitely helps. Because... _sex_. Yeah! It's too bad Carl had to get shot so that they could meet, but he's recovering and Glenn is happy to have found someone.

Even the barn full of roamers can’t ruin his optimistic mood. Another flash of déjà vu tells him that shooting the things as they come out of the barn could be a whole lot worse, but it isn’t. Maybe it’s because he’s with Maggie and has a better outlook on life, on everything. He glances at Carol. Her brow is furrowed. She’s looking at the open barn doors, body tense, waiting for more roamers to come out. Nothing else comes out. She relaxes and so does Glenn.

Glenn decides to stay at the farm with Maggie, rather than move on with the group. He finds himself watching the road to the house often. Maybe he stays because he thinks that same thing that was supposed to arrive at the camp, will find him here.

One day they are walking out in the fields, near the tree line and Glenn looks around, surprised. It feels like he’s been here before. He thinks he hears something, like the echo of a gunshot. Emotions flood his body. Fear, then intense panic shoot through him and he looks back towards the house expecting to see the cause. Nothing. Maggie touches his arm, bringing him back to the present. He looks around again and sees the field for what it is, peaceful; the sounds of birds and insects creating the humming drone that signals the start of late summer.

In fact everything is so peaceful leaving the farm feels, well, honestly, it feels anti-climactic. But they get to the prison and it proves to be a secure place. Eventually Glenn gets Herschel’s approval to date Maggie and he thinks this is a life he could live.

He never did find a crossbow. He now makes runs to siphon gas instead of foraging for supplies. Maybe if they can drive farther out, he can find some stores that haven’t been picked over. Food is still scarce and the hunger pangs feel unnatural. He looks at Sophia and Carl - it’s great that they have each other, growing up in this new world - and wishes he could find more food for them.

When they lose Carol, when she takes her own life with that roamer, Glenn feels devastated of course, but also…confused. This whole time he expected her to get better. Become stronger. She did the opposite. After Tyrese and Michonne got together - and didn't that seem odd - Carol just fell apart. Then again, who is he to put those expectations on her? They weren’t even that close anymore. Could he have done anything? If she had someone, a friend she trusted, who trusted her…would it have made the difference? And why wouldn’t Sophia be reason enough to go on?

Sophia. Watching her with Maggie is like a gift. He sees the life that could have been if not for the end of the world they knew. Maggie is a wonderful mother. He tries as best he can to be a father to Sophia, tries to make their little family unit complete.

What Glenn thinks is that he no longer has that anxious expectant feeling that something is going to – no, _should_ – happen.  That something is missing. This is his life. He's content.

***

He feels the bat hit his head and hears bone shatter and crunch. He calls to Maggie. His last thought is that he wishes she didn’t have to see him die.

***

He wakes up looking into the sky. Wait, what? He really, really did not expect to be waking up. His head is pounding and his whole body aches. But not in the ‘I just got my head beaten in with a bat’ way.  More a 'I’ve had the flu for a month' way. He hears the roamers groaning and feels hands grabbing at him so he pushes his body to move. He sits up.

His first thought is of Maggie. He has to find her.

He looks around and realizes he’s at the prison. How did he get back here? He takes the riot gear and some supplies he thinks will be useful and sets out. A girl, Tara, is there and he gets her to come with him to help him find Maggie.

Seeing Maggie in the tunnel is the greatest moment in his life. Relief and happiness and joy fighting for dominance in his body. Abraham, Rosita and Eugene are with her. He introduces Tara and meets the others Maggie is traveling with, Bob and Sasha. They hug him and he pretends to be happy to see them, but it's disconcerting that he doesn't remember meeting them before. They act like they know him and he should know them.

Once they’ve had their reunion he knows he has to ask. In this world, this new world, this is the worst possible moment and you wish you could stop time because if it moves forward, even a little bit, it might mean you’ve lost someone you love. Just asking will make it real.

“Where’s Sophia?”

“Who?”

He flinches. How could she, Maggie, who’s like a mother to the girl, how could she say that?

“Sophia??” He tries to keep the panic out of his voice, but can't.

“You mean…that girl we found in the barn?” She sounds confused.

He smoothes his hands over her hair, in a caress, but he’s also checking to see if she’s been hit on the head. She catches on right away and pulls away.

Maggie looks irritated. “Look, you’re just getting over the flu, and walked, like, a million miles, so. Let’s just get some rest so we can move on tomorrow.”

Move on? Is she serious? His stomach falls as he remembers something else.

“H-how….how is….how is the baby?”

“Judith? I don’t know.”

Judith?! – she died in the prison attack! What the hell is going on?

“NO! Your – OUR baby. You’re pregnant!” He gestures to her stomach.

“No, Glenn. I’m not.” She sounds placating, cautious. Her voice is flat.

He closes his eyes and presses the heels of his hands on them until he sees sparks of white. Maybe he did suffer some brain damage from Negan’s beat down. I mean, how could he have walked away from that?

“I can’t…I don’t know what’s going on,” his voice is strained. “Things are different, like, not how they’re supposed to be. I can’t –“

“Shhhhh.” She smoothes her hand over his hair. “You should get some sleep. It’ll help.” She waves off the others standing nearby and guides him to a relatively smooth area of ground. He starts to pull a blanket out of his pack but she takes it from him. She shakes it out and pauses, looking at it for a moment. She looks like she's about to cry which confuses him because, come on, it's just a blanket or poncho or something. But then she looks at him with a sad smile and lays it on the ground. They both lay down facing each other.

He decides to keep his mouth shut and be happy for what he has. He’ll figure out the rest when he can.

The next day they head out. They’re heading for some place called Terminus. It’s supposed to be a sanctuary. He doesn’t remember hearing about it before, but hopes it will provide some safety.

While they walk, he asks tentative questions. It becomes clear he has no idea what is going on. Maggie is concerned, but now that she knows the extent of his confusion, there’s no point in hiding it. He asks her to tell him what's happened.

"Since the attack?"

"Yeah." He wouldn't really call what Negan did to them an attack. More like an ambush, or an execution, but not an _execution_ really - because he's still here, right? He hopes no one else was chosen to die in his place.

She talks about the Governor attacking the prison and admits she doesn't know much more. It sounds like...when he woke up there, the Governor had _just_ attacked. He asks about Alexandria and Hilltop but Maggie has never heard of these places. Did he just loose all those months? But it's not like he's lost that time, because _he_ still remembers everything since then. Did _Maggie_ forget? But Bob and Sasha are on the same page as Maggie. Is group amnesia even possible?

He’s so confused by what they tell him he stops asking questions.

***

When they wake up in the rail car, he feels like it's his fault. He should have been more careful. He should have protected them. No one else, it seems, had as much reason to be wary of people. It's probably the effects of taking a bat to the head. He didn't imagine they were walking into a trap. They believed the signs.

The hear the commotion, shooting, shouting. Someone's putting up a fight.

Then they hear the loudspeaker. Ringleader. Archer. Samurai. Kid. He hears Maggie gasp and the others murmur. He realizes the Samurai's gotta be Michonne. If the kid is Carl, the Ringleader could be Rick. He feels a tiny flicker of hope.

He and the rest stand back from the door of the train car, knowing the guns will be trained on the doorway. Maggie is squeezing his hand. The fighters walk in, one at a time.... Glenn lets out the breath he's been holding. It's them. And some guy they must have met on the way - the Archer.

The doors are slammed shut and it takes a moment for their eyes to adjust back to the darkness. There are cracks of light illuminating slivers of their faces.

Glenn finds his voice first.

"Rick?"

Maggie drops his hand and rushes forward. He can hear the sobs she's choking on and suddenly she's reaching for the stranger. Her fingers slip around his neck and she pulls his face to hers and - they're _kissing!_ Glenn feels pain and anger engulf his chest like he's being shot through with a flame thrower, but doesn't say anything, doesn't _do_ anything. The Archer wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her closer. Their lips break apart and Maggie moves her hands to his cheeks and they stand with their foreheads pressed together. The sharp, intense pain of jealousy passes and Glenn is left dizzy from confusion and hurt. She didn't _say_ anything about breaking up, but then maybe she thought he knew. So many things are different from what he knows, what he _knew._ She kissed him and hugged him and held his hand. Their reunion had been just as powerful - or so he thought. She's still wearing the ring he gave her! Was that out of habit or some kind of gratefulness over finding other survivors, and nothing more?

The Archer looks over at him and he almost shrinks back. He doesn't let himself though. Whoever this guy is, they're going to have to work together, fight together. They'll figure out the rest later. If Maggie chose him, Glenn will have to live with it.

The Archer turns to him and takes quick steps. Glenn feels like backing away, but manages to hold his ground. He braces for a hit. Suddenly the Archer is standing in front of him. Glenn sees cool blue irises shining in a splinter of light falling across the Archer's face and feels a flicker of ... something...in his chest. Those eyes. He knows those eyes, but how could he? The Archer brings one hand up to Glenn's neck, fingers in back, thumb grazing the rise of his collarbone, and he _does_ flinch this time. Something flashes across the Archer's face, confusion? Hurt? How is that even possible, Glenn wonders. Then the Archer pulls on the back of his neck, gently though, and leans in. Then _they're_ kissing and... _The scrape of rough lips, the smell of sweat and leather and gun oil, the press of strong arms..._

Oh.

_Oh._

_Daryl._

And everything falls into place.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This was a fix it fic for the comics.  Basically, I found out about *spoiler* Glenn's death in the comics and after reading Shades of L by PSmith73 was thinking that, okay, Glenn died in the comics, but at least he hasn't died in the TV show. [edit: i wrote this during season 4!)]  So in my head, the logical next step was that maybe Glenn had to die in the comics because Daryl isn't there.  Stay with me here.  So he had to die so that his consciousness could become tv Glenn's consciousness and he could be with Daryl. Sound good? Anyway, I'm probably going to stop watching the show just so I can keep this possibility alive in my heart.
> 
> I tried to write it as just Daryl/Glenn, but Maggie wouldn't get out of the way.  Damn her.  Still, it worked for me.


End file.
